‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian’ S3: “The Spies” – Everything We Noticed
Between name drops, character introductions, and the promise of a secret spy in Mandalorian ranks, this was a big episode of The Mandalorian.
Most episodes of The Mandalorian this season have been pretty divisive. Some people loved the episode that focused on Pershing on Coruscant, others hated it. Some enjoyed last week’s side quest with all of its high-profile cameos, and others felt that it took away from the show. But this week’s episode seems to be solid across the board. Finally, all of the individual pieces are coming together and we’re getting hints at how this show will tie into the next few shows as well as the greater galaxy. There was a lot to notice this week, so let’s jump right in.
As always, in order to break down this week’s episode and talk about what we saw, we’ll have to reveal quite a few spoilers. If you haven’t watched it yet this week, proceed at your own risk.
The Shadow Council
There were a lot of Easter Eggs in this small opening scene alone. We see that Moff Gideon is still alive and receiving a secret holo from Elia Kane. She warns him that the various Mandalorian factions are working together and then he returns to his meeting with the Shadow Council.
First introduced in the Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig, the council is made up of a few key Imperials, each overseeing what’s left of their own sectors and planning for the glorious return of Imperial rule. Supposedly the Council was disbanded after the Battle of Jakku, but apparently not.
In attendance at this council meeting is Commandant Brendol Hux, father of a certain General Hux who we got to know in the sequel trilogy. He spends many years working tirelessly to bring to Empire back to power and generally being a pretty bad father.
Also at this meeting is Captain Gilad Pellaeon. Pellaeon’s name may not be as instantly recognizable as Hux’s but he’s been around since Legends time as Grand Admiral Thrawn‘s number two guy and the Captain on Thrawn’s fleet flagship, the Chimaera. He made a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in Rebels as a much younger man, and it seems he’s back again preparing the others for Thrawn’s immanent return. The rest of the council seems dubious that this will happen at all, but all of us with access to Ahsoka trailers know that it’s only a matter of time.
Project Necromancer
A nefarious-sounding secret project was mentioned in this episode, and Gideon quickly describes it as clones and writes it off. Considering the importance of Pershing earlier in this show, the what-looks-like cloning pods Gideon walked by on his way to the meeting, and the appearance of the cloning facility at Mount Tantiss in The Bad Batch, it’s fair to assume that cloning is an important part of the remaining Empire’s vision for the future. And considering the imagery that Project “Necromancer” brings up, I have a feeling this will be directly related to the future failed Emperor Palpatine clones.
Death Watch
As Bo-Katan and Din Djarin‘s Mandalorian tribes joined forces in this episode, they spent some time feeling each other out. At one point Din’s group is asked if they’re Death Watch and the Armorer says that Death Watch is no more and split into many warring factions long ago. This seems to give us confirmation that the “Children of the Watch” are one of many offshoots of the former Death Watch.
Death Watch mainly acted as a terrorist group during the Clone Wars, and even Bo-Katan was a member for a time. Eventually, Darth Maul (yes, that Darth Maul) infiltrated and took over Death Watch, killing Bo-Katan’s sister Satine.
Gideon’s New Toys
Since last we saw Moff Gideon, he has increased his armory and team quite a bit. This week we saw a group of Imperial Jumptroopers at his command as well as Super Commandos, Praetorian Guards, and even a brand new coat of beskar Dark Trooper armor for himself. He clearly hasn’t been in hiding since his escape.
The Spies
This episode’s title promises multiple spies, and we definitely see one in Elia Kane’s reporting back to Gideon. But there should be at least one more. Most likely it’s one of the Mandalorians. They would be directly involved in setting up the ambush on Mandalore. My money is on the Armorer or Axe Woves.
The Armorer had the perfect opportunity to get all of the Mandalorian’s together in one place by sending Bo-Katan out to get them. Meanwhile, Axe still seems a little mad about Bo-Katan taking back the fleet and would have probably had an easy time contacting the Imperials from a former Imperial ship.
What did you think of this week’s episode of The Mandalorian? Who do you think the second spy is? Has this been your favorite episode of the season so far? Let us know in the comments!
May the Force be with you, adventurers!
